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Tuesday, 16 September 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Q: Could you give us a brief about CTO and how it has progressed since its establishment?
A: The Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) is the oldest and largest body of governments working on how ICT can be used to contribute to development. We date back to the early 20th century and we have evolved overtime since then. Basically we are a membership service organisation that services our members in what they want, that is to use ICT for economic development.
We have three operational divisions which are research and consultancy, capacity development and training, events and conferences. I passionately believe it is important to do things well so we prioritise six key areas, but we are here to serve the needs of any Commonwealth country that ask for our help.
Q: What are the six priority areas?
A: Regulatory environments, mobile broadband, cyber security, youth and ICT, skills for entrepreneurships, and ICT for people with disabilities. However, we respond to any request that is brought to us.
Q: The CTO’s strategic plan is going into its third year. What are the milestones it has achieved so far?
A: First we had to make sure that all of our internal systems were up to mark and ensure there is transparency. We had to ensure that our internal systems were in place to serve our membership. Majority of that is now in place, which is good.
Secondly, we had to get the finances and clearly that is sorted out and I am delighted to say that we have turned around to generate a small surplus from last year. That was a major achievement.
Highlighting a few key achievements, we delivered the first-ever ICT Ministers in Commonwealth Conference in March this year. That was a major achievement since we did that with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
In terms of delivering new training programs and bringing in new initiatives, we are continuing to deliver programs in the member countries itself. We are also creating a new facility for this purpose in our headquarters in London. The aim is to make officials of the member country understand the role of the regulator. For this we are bringing together people from across the Commonwealth so there better understanding.
Looking at the rollout of each of our Commonwealth areas, one of the most successful activities is the area of cyber security. We crafted together with our members a cyber governance framework for the Commonwealth countries. With that now there is a model for internet governance which the member countries can use and adapt to suit their environment.
We are keen on working on collaborative modes. One of the challenges is that everyone tends to compete and want to be experts, but there are so many replications. For that we are trying our level best to work in collaboration.
Just as in any strategic plan there are some areas that perform better than others. The one area that I have regrets is that we haven’t been able to bring back on board some of the members who left a long time ago. We are working very hard towards that.
Q: You mentioned there has been progress in the area of cyber security; how seriously are governments taking that? Is there sufficient emphasis?
A: Across the Commonwealth, it is hugely variable. So why is the response variable? I think that in some countries it is quite simply the lack of resources although there is a strong will.
Some of our Commonwealth countries are buying second hand equipments from other not so very rich countries. They are still trying to get the hardware in place. It is that difficult.
Secondly, some countries don’t fully appreciate the extent of the challenge so that is where sharing knowledge and expertise is important. So it is the lack of awareness.
Thirdly, there are some really tricky issues that are to be resolved to get the balance right between security and privacy. There is a lot of global international debate about that and so it is difficult to develop a uniform solution to address cyber security. I tend to believe in best practices and suggest for countries develop their own unique models based on their particular context and problems.
It comes down to a combination of lack of awareness, resources, and complexity of issues. This is why we have worked with member countries to develop a framework which that can use as a start to address the issues they face in these areas.
Q: Do governments understand the seriousness and consequences of not paying enough attention to cyber security?
A: Most do. Whether they all know how important it is, I am not so sure. During our visits to the member countries we try to push and help them realise the required standards in this regard. I continuously emphasise that the biggest threat to the global community is connectivity that is least protected.
Q: What issues were discussed at the ICT Ministers Conference held earlier this year?
A: That initiative is very close to me since before that there was no conference of that nature taking place. We gradually began to talk with ministers and the sort of issues they would like to discuss and I was delighted that the Commonwealth Secretariat allowed us to use the Commonwealth Headquarters for this. It was held over two days with the inauguration held the day before. We had representatives from more than 30 Commonwealth countries, out of the 53.
The issue we are faced with is that there are lots of different organisations in the Commonwealth and it is difficult to narrow down where they have to go should they need to resolve an issue. It was greatly about getting clarity on that.
Secondly, there was the agreement on the governance framework. We held in 2012 a summit on ICT for people with disability and for that there were a number of recommendations in that regard. The government representatives were keen on discussing ICT in education and there was an agreement on the areas that should be treated as priority.
Q: It is interesting that you mention CTO is involved in the area of ICT for people with disability. What is the area of work there and why is it important? Before you answer, could you share CTO’s definition for people with disability?
A: I take a view that we all have different kinds and different levels of disability. Some of these are formalised in law which differs from country to country, but basically what we covered under our definition are those with vision impairment, hearing issues, a range of physical disabilities, and those that require special education. Broadly speaking we go with the UN definition for disability, and there is about 15% of the world population captured under that.
We work in a range of areas and one of the first things we worked on is to get the government officials to agree on a proposal and to get that rolled out. The next stage is to not only be able to execute actual practical workshops on the ground to raise awareness, but also to talk about policy implementation and practical action.
It is about trying and encouraging people with disabilities to engage and I am trying to ensure that everything we do is accessible. That is really tough. I am not going to name countries but the starting point of addressing these issues is so very low.
Q: What role can ICT play in developing entrepreneurs?
A: We have regular workshops in this regard and we recently did one in the Caribbean. The idea was to get their views so it can be shared with government officials. This can be done in different levels. Costa Rico has a world renowned program that specifically helps young people to gain the skills for entrepreneurship. It is not just ICT based but it is also about business models. It involves how ICT can be used to get what is necessary for entrepreneurship.
Another aspect is to develop people skills, basic ICT skills which will allow them to be productive in the economy.
A lot of people say that there needs to be more encouragement on developing apps and a recent report findings showed that only 2% of app developers earn about 85% of the app development. So the majority don’t make successful development.
Some are of the view of advocating the iHub where we bring together young entrepreneurs to develop ICT. I have to admit that the evidence of some of these is not as convincing as people would like.
My real driver for the initiative in the Caribbean is talking with High Commissions and ministers about creating a future for those who don’t have proper education. For them, ICT is a recourse for the future as it will help them have productive jobs. That is a challenge we want to tackle.
Q: Focusing on Sri Lanka, what is your view on the local ICT space?
A: I am seeing some really innovative measures used here. At a policy level the country has prioritised the aspect of ICT. There is a plan on having 75% ICT literacy by 2016 and an ambition of having the ICT sector to contribute about $ 1 billion by also by 2016.
Setting these vision and providing the resources and commitment to that is really interesting. The computer society in Sri Lanka, they are very committed on reaching the goals.
However, I note there are regulatory issues, but then again it is a challenge to get the balance right. It is something many countries are faced with.
An area that could do with more attention is to provide affordable access to internet to the poor. I would like to know how Sri Lanka is developing technical solutions to some of its problems. I would also like to see more done in the area of ICT for people with disabilities.
